The Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line will connect the Sunshine Coast community to Moreton Bay, Brisbane and beyond.

This new rail line will tie into the existing North Coast Line, north of Beerwah station.

Trains operating on the Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line will continue to Moreton Bay, the Brisbane CBD and beyond.

Passengers travelling from Brisbane and Moreton Bay will also be able to access more frequent services to the Sunshine Coast via the Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line, with Caloundra station only 7 stations north of Caboolture station.

Once open, the Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line will be the fastest and most reliable way to travel between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane in peak hour, with rail passengers saving over 45 minutes compared to driving in peak times.

Stage 1 includes:

• protection of the revised alignment from Beerwah to Maroochydore
• delivery of a dual-track rail line (and associated infrastructure, including 1 upgraded and 2 new stations) from Beerwah to Caloundra – this is 19 kilometres, more than half of the Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line
• planning, design and market engagement to confirm delivery costs and timeframes to deliver the Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line to Birtinya.

Pre-delivery activities are now underway.

Stage 1 is jointly funded by the Queensland and Australian governments.

The Queensland Government has committed $2.75 billion in funding to deliver Stage 1 (Beerwah to Caloundra). The Australian Government has committed $2.75 billion.

Stage 1 (as detailed above) is expected to cost between $5.5 billion and $7 billion. The funding envelope takes into consideration learnings from local and international mega-projects, which state that cost estimates for a project of this size and scale cannot be confirmed until further detailed investigations and industry engagement activities are undertaken, following completion of the business case.

This funding includes protection of the new alignment to Maroochydore.

The business case was completed in December 2023.